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| Nataraja Awards 2026 Winners: Full Highlights, Surprise Victories and Viral Reactions From Thailand’s Biggest TV Awards. (Credits: One31) |
The 17th Nataraja Awards 2026 arrived in Bangkok on Sunday night looking less like a standard award ceremony and more like the entire Thai entertainment industry collectively deciding to dress expensively and emotionally process a chaotic television year together. Held at Sphere Hall inside EMSPHERE Bangkok, the annual ceremony once again gathered Thailand’s biggest stars, directors, producers, presenters and broadcasters under one roof, all hoping their names would be called before the cameras zoomed in too aggressively.
Organised by the Federation of Radio and Television Broadcasting Professional Associations of Thailand, the event remains one of the country’s most respected entertainment awards. Unlike popularity-driven ceremonies dominated by fandom wars and suspiciously fast voting systems, the Nataraja Awards still carry the reputation of industry recognition first. Which, naturally, made online reactions even louder the second certain winners were announced.
The night opened with the honorary awards, where veteran radio figure Prasert Pongthananikorn received the honorary radio achievement award for his long-running contribution through Rod Fai Don Tri.
Meanwhile, television pioneer Jareuk Kaljareuk was honoured for his decades of work shaping Thai TV drama and production. The applause inside the venue felt genuine, which was refreshing in an industry where reaction shots sometimes look like people calculating parking fees in real time.
In the long-form drama category, The Summer We Met from Thai PBS emerged as one of the biggest winners of the evening after taking home Best Drama and Best Screenplay for writers Gun Supalerk and Jira Jirap.
The series earned praise throughout its run for balancing emotional realism with understated storytelling rather than relying entirely on dramatic shouting in the rain. Many viewers online called the win “deserved but emotionally dangerous” because the drama apparently left half the audience staring at walls after every episode.
Yuttana Lorpanpaiboon won Best Director for Good Heavens! I’m a Goose Not a Swan, a fantasy comedy-drama that somehow turned complete absurdity into prestige television.
The series also secured Best Actress for Bow Maylada, whose performance as the unpredictable lead became one of the year’s most talked-about roles. Social media reactions exploded almost instantly after her win, with fans celebrating the fact that comedic performances are finally being taken seriously at major awards instead of being treated like entertainment side dishes.
The drama also won Best Costume Design, which honestly surprised nobody. Every episode looked like the wardrobe department had personally declared war on minimalism.
Meanwhile, Nonkul Chanon secured Best Actor for Mouse on TrueID. His restrained and psychologically intense performance had already generated award buzz months before the ceremony aired. Fans praised the actor for carrying a morally complex role without turning every emotional scene into a dramatic monologue competition.
Supporting performance awards went to Nok Sinjai for The Successor and Am Amarin for Game of Succession. Nok’s win especially drew strong support online, with viewers calling her performance “terrifyingly elegant” and proof that experienced actresses continue to dominate whenever scripts actually give them something interesting to do.
The short-form categories ended up belonging almost entirely to Mad Unicorn, which stormed through the ceremony collecting awards like the production team accidentally unlocked unlimited mode.
The Netflix drama won Best Short Drama, Best Director for Kai Nottapon, Best Actress for Jane Methika, Best Actor for Ice Natara, Best Supporting Actor for Ek Thaneth, as well as screenplay, editing, cinematography and production design awards.
By the middle of the ceremony, viewers online were already joking that organisers should simply rename the event “The Mad Unicorn Appreciation Ceremony and Also Some Other Awards”.
During her acceptance speech, Jane Methika became one of the night’s standout moments after emotionally thanking the production team, cast and viewers who supported the series from release day.
“I honestly thought people would think this project was too strange,” she admitted while laughing on stage. “But audiences accepted every weird, emotional and chaotic part of it. Thank you for allowing me to grow through this role.” Clips of her speech quickly spread online, with many fans praising her sincerity and calling it one of the evening’s most genuine moments.
Ice Natara’s victory also triggered major discussion among viewers, especially after several fan-favourite names failed to secure nominations earlier in awards season. Still, even critics admitted his performance in Mad Unicorn carried the emotional weight of the series remarkably well.
Elsewhere in production categories, New Chayapak won Best Drama Song for RED FLAG from GELBOYS, a track that became almost impossible to escape on Thai social media over the past year. Some fans celebrated the win while others joked the song had already been playing in their heads against their will since episode two.
The Believers Season 2 took home Best CGI, while Mad Unicorn dominated technical categories including editing, cinematography and art direction. Viewers particularly praised the series’ visual style for making urban Thailand look cinematic without feeling artificially polished.
The radio and news categories highlighted Thailand’s strong broadcast sector beyond drama entertainment. Green Morning Show on GREEN WAVE 106.5 FM won Best News and Information Programme, while MusicGuru from Family News FM 106 MHz secured the entertainment radio prize.
On Onuma and Thanes Sukawat were recognised for their presenting work, with listeners praising both broadcasters for sounding “human” rather than robotic headline machines.
Thai PBS enjoyed a strong night overall, with This is Thai PBS winning Best News Programme and Khuy Hai Khid taking the hard talk category. Phakphoom Phansatit from Thairath TV won Best Male News Presenter, while Toon Parinda from Channel 3 claimed the female category after a year of consistently strong ratings and viral interview clips.
Outside scripted television, Genwit Season 2 won Best Game Show, while SUPER 100 and SUPER 10 continued Workpoint’s dominance in variety and youth programming.
Perspective secured the talk show category, and veteran presenter Kanchai Kamnerdploy once again proved he remains one of Thailand’s most recognisable television personalities. At this point, many viewers joked he could probably host a programme about watching paint dry and still dominate ratings.
Sports and documentary programming also received recognition, with Channel 7HD’s 4 Student Sports Series Champion 7HD 2025 winning best sports programme, while Thai PBS documentary WILD Survival secured the documentary category thanks to its ambitious production and environmental storytelling.
Online reactions to the overall winners list were predictably mixed, chaotic and extremely entertaining. Many viewers praised the ceremony for rewarding quality storytelling and technical achievement, especially the recognition for Mad Unicorn and The Summer We Met.
Others argued certain commercially successful dramas were overlooked entirely. Some fans celebrated peacefully. Others wrote essays longer than university dissertations explaining why their favourites were “robbed”. Awards season remains undefeated when it comes to public emotional damage.
Still, the Nataraja Awards 2026 ultimately reflected a Thai entertainment industry becoming more ambitious, visually polished and internationally competitive than ever. From fantasy dramas and psychological thrillers to hard-hitting news programmes and youth entertainment, the ceremony showcased just how broad the country’s television landscape has become.
And honestly, if the online reactions are already this dramatic one night later, next year’s awards season may require emotional preparation in advance. Which win surprised you most this year — and which drama absolutely should have walked away with more awards?